I truly believe that all Dogs Deserve Freedom. That means that every dog has the right to be free and in order to make this happen, all dog owners have the responsibility to properly prepare, train and educate their dogs to give them that freedom.

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Thursday, February 5, 2009

I know I said I wouldn't post any religious things on here (and Christmas "is" technically religious - if not also commercial), but I couldn't resist. If you have issues with this, please omit the word "Christmas" and replace it with the appropriate label (example - Hannukah, Solstice, Ramadan, etc)

It's the beginning of February. You all know what that means ... Christmas Puppy Rejects! Yep - this is the time of year that many people get rid of their Christmas puppies.

It's not necessarily the fault of the person who received the puppy as a gift. They don't always ask for it. Sometimes they just are "blessed" with a friend or family member who thinks they should share their home with a dog.

Seriously people ... that has got to be one of the worst insults! Do you not realize what you're not saying to these people?

So, the way we're going to do this is the pups will go from left to right and you can associate the number with the appropriate picture posted. (They are posted in numerical order)

The first pup of Christmas (top Left) is from Boston. It's listed as a 3 month old American Bull Dog mixed with a Pitty.

The second pup of Christmas is from Atlanta (top right). Another 14 week old American Pit Bull.

The third pup of Christmas is also from Atlanta (left). This one is a lab pup - no age listed. Again it was given to a child (now who the heck gives a 3 year old kid a dog?!) and the family is not able to care for it.

The fourth pup of Christmas. She's a blue pitty from Austin (right). Surprise surprise, the owners are having troubles finding an apartment that will allow her ... do you really think they're going to move to accomodate a puppy?!?

The fifth pup of Christmas is also from Austin (left). He is 4 month old Dachsund. He's crate trained and potty trained, but the hubby "changed his mind" and decided he doesn't want a dog.

The sixth pup of Christmas is from Dallas (right). This is a 4 month old Italian Greyhound. Another Christmas present that the new owners are unable to care for.

The seventh pup of Christmas. Another one from Dallas (left). She is 9 week old Lhatese pup. (This was posted on Jan 13, so add a few wks to is). For those of you who are like me and saying "what in the world is a Lhatese?" Well, it's another designer dog. It's a Lhasa Apso mixed with a Maltese.

The eighth pup of Christmas is from Baltimore (right). A wire hair fox terrier. Another present given to someone who didn't want it. Poor thing. Lukily this person is willing to hang on to him until he finds a home - this one's not going to the shelter yet.

The ninth pup of Christmas. A Houston pup this time (left). New owners got her for Christmas, but now they have been laid off. I expect to see a fair amount of these coming in the near future. Another Pitty Pup.

The tenth pup of Christmas is from all the way up in Alaska (right). Another Pitty Pup. Another relative giving out presents and not checking with parents first.

The eleventh pup of Christmas is from Orange County (left). Specifically Westminster. This little guy is a Mastiff/Boxer mix who is being advertised as good guard dog potential. Gee - that sounds just great. Let's teach it right from the get go to be a guard dog. That's just what we need.

And the twelfth pup of Christmas is from Phoenix (right). I think this is about the worst case of Verbal Diarreah I've seen in a long time! This one is a PRT (Parson's Russel Terrier) cross with a Yorkie. And ... you'll never guess ... its name is Happy. I don't think his ending is very happy. This poster just goes on and on about how wonderful a dog this is ... if he's so great, why don't you keep him?

There were many more than these 12 pups that were given as presents this holiday season that have ended up as rejects. Please don't give pets as presents - it's unlikely that the person receiving can actually afford to keep it, have facilities to house it, have time to train it, or have the desire to keep it. If all these things were something that person had available to them, don't you think they would have gotten a pup for themselves?

We can't post them all, and we can't save them all. But you know what?

One person can make a difference.

When you decide to go out next and get a new pet - please get a rescue from a shelter or pick up a dog that needs rehoming. Please don't go to a breeder unless you've already exhausted these resources, are planning on breeding, or are planning on competing / showing. If you're looking for a companion pet, you can very often find exactly what you're looking for in shelters (yes, often even purebred).

11 comments:

that is so infuriating. I CANNOT STAND it when people give puppies as christmas presents because this is what happens. pretty soon we;ll all be dealing with the yellow lab rejects, courtesy Marley and Me movie.

My husband & I adopted a lab mix from the shelter. She was the sweetest thing when we got her, but after 2-3 months, once she felt comfortable, she started turning into the devil incarnate.

I have chronic fatigue syndrome so I couldn't discipline her and my husband had never kept a dog before and didn't know how to. Training classes didn't help. There were days when I would end up in tears and decide that we have to return her to the shelter, but somehow, I just kept giving her "one more chance". And, somehow, with a lot of help from the shelter from where we got her, we got through those days.

We have now had Lola for 3.5 years, and neither my husband nor I can imagine life without her. She is the most precious thing in our lives. And she has become the perfect companion for me.

I guess all I wanted to say was that sometimes you may get a dog who doesn't seem like the one you were looking for, but if you persevere, you may find the companion of your dreams :)

This brings back to memory the unstopping number of rejects caused by Cruella and the 101 Dalmatians hoopla. There were dogs with spots everywhere and the issue is that people didn't stop to think about their behavior and crazy (yet loving) manners. Like Ms. F said, the problem is that we're not patient beings and want the animal to behave like we want.

Is just like having a baby at your house: would you want to wake up every 2 hours to warm up the milk and feed the newborn for the rest of your life? No, we adjust and patiently wait for them to grow this phase.

It's a shame we don't practice it with four-legged babies; I guess it's easier just to give up. After all, there's a building not too far from your house that takes them for a small fee, right?... Great post!

My Rocko was a shelter dog. he was 6 months old when we adopted him. No one wanted him because they were saying he is a pit bull. He is not a pit, but if he was it doesn't matter. He would get really excited and bit the kids, I contacted the shelter and asked for help. They were able to get a coupon to discount the price of a obedience class. It worked!!! He is THE BEST DOG I HAVE EVER HAD. There are pictures of him on my blog. He is just perfect all 90lbs of him. I am so glad I didn't give up.

I'm glad to hear so many of you out there adopting from shelters - it's encouraging.

I'm not a fan of giving or getting pets for presents, but as long as the person receiving is prepared for the lifelong commitment (like Ki), than that's what is important.

Karina - I remember that trend to get Dalmatians ... and I remember when the shelters started to become overrun by them. :( Every time they put out a new dog movie, I worry that we'll see that happen again. Good points on babies and how they grow out of things ... getting me thinking again :)

Sully - I'm glad you contacted the shelter when you were having troubles. I find that many people are too embarrassed to do this so end up missing opportunities (like your training classes!).

My first thought is why don't they contact the breeder to give the puppy back... but then again I suppose that if a breeder is willing to even sell a puppy to some of these people then it's a case of "give me the money, here's your puppy, buh-bye".

But that's the first thing I tell people to do when they contact me about giving up a dog to Rescue (well after talking to them about training the dog). It never occurs to them. The breeder might not take the dog back but if they get enough calls from people wanting to give up puppies and dogs they may either be more careful about screening buyers, or just quit breeding!

And if that last pup is a cross between a Yorkie and a Parson/Jack Russell, I'll eat my hat.